After making a V/A appearance on ‘EXCURSIONS # 5’ via Phuture Shock’s EXCURSIONS sub-label in 2018, rising German talent Sandilé returns, this time on the Bristol-based parent imprint, with a blistering two-track missive entitled ‘Bulla Bulla’.

Having emerged out of Cologne’s vibrant underground house and techno scene over the last few years, the local DJ and producer has steadily built a name for herself with frequent DJ gigs across Europe and a clutch of releases on hometown labels including Like Records and IM IN LOVE. While last year saw the German artist land a production credit on Berlin’s Neovinyl, by way of a notable collaboration with prolific house duo Black Loops.

Here adding to her growing credentials, with her first solo outing on Phuture Shock Musik, Sandilé showcases her versatile, groove-driven style across two club-bound tracks - both of which bridge the gap between the soulful essence of deep house and the unrelenting drive of techno; replete with dark and dubby overtones, whilst also heavily taking cues from the UK’s rich bass music roots.

The opening salvo arrives in the form of the bass-driven ‘Bulla Bulla’, where a rollicking, tom-tom laden groove, sharp hi-hats and driving beats serve as a taut, rhythmic base for a whirlwind of fluttering dub chords, manic rimshots and Jamaican vocal chants that delicately merge with deeply emotive keys and lush pads enriched with the hi-tech soul of Motor City and an air of Bristol melancholy. Maintaining the dancefloor urgency on the B-Side, albeit on a more pensive, heads-down tip is ‘Heavy One’, which unfolds with the throb of hefty 4/4 kicks, bubbling low end and delay-drenched synth stabs that incessantly pierce through layers of skittering percussion and snappy claps, before a cascade of eerie padded chords akin to the 90’s intelligent jungle atmospherics of LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking imprint - takes you on a late-night sonic journey across the dark Metropolis of Berlin via Cologne through to inner city London and Detroit, running deep into the afterhours.[info sheet from distr.]